Top Disney Executive Leaves Cambridge Research Lab

Joe Marks, the head of Disney’s Cambridge research lab, has left the company.

Marks, who helped set up the research and development lab last year, left the company in order to work on a new startup. According to sources, the facility will remain open. Since Marks’s departure, there is only one senior researcher on staff, as well as a junior researcher, three professor consultants who visit regularly, four post-docs and seven lab associates.

Disney’s Cambridge facility was working on several projects, including 3-D printing of objects; tracking any and all Disney mentions in the blogosphere, and helping theme park visitors avoid crowds through the use of mobile devices.

As of this writing, it has been confirmed that Jessica Hodgins is now overseeing the lab in the wake of Marks’s departure.